Penance
by Gnash1
Summary: One shot. Damon is pushed to the edge of what little moral code he owns and finds there really are things even he won't do.


_**Author's note:**_

_**I guess this is where I say that I am not in any way affiliated with the Vampire Diaries or its writers and producers. I own no part of the characters contained in this story. *sigh…..shrug* **_

_**This is also where I note that any original characters contained here are entirely mine and I have not given clearance for their use to any party or entity by their being published on this website.**_

_**Please review. Your opinion always matters.**_

_**Penance**_

Damon woke to a hell that had spread its jaws wide to overtake him. The agony crouched to greet him promptly pounced. It would've swept him off his feet if he hadn't already lacked the strength to stand. The silence of the filthy little cell was broken only by ragged curses he didn't immediately recognize as his own. As he moved, the chains fettering him to the wall chattered soullessly into the gloom. A single light ran down the hallway outside his door and cast a lonely beam of light onto the dirt floor he sat on. A ragged groan was torn from his chest as he shifted. New, fresh agony ripped across his already tattered senses like the sound of a single scream that emerged sharper, higher and more anguished than the rest of hell's tortured occupants for that breath.

He was weak, injured and the agony told him he desperately needed blood. He didn't have a damned clue how he had gotten here. His blue eyes moved restlessly, searching for answers in darkness that held only secrets until he heard an answering rustle in a blackened corner. He caught a scent, tipping his head back to absorb it with starved relish. More pain struck him like a fist at the effort, but there was a payoff. The scent was cloying, unpleasant and yet sweetly familiar. It was _fear_, adrenaline coursing through a bloodstream….a human bloodstream.

He opened his mouth to speak, but a ragged gasp escaped instead. _How long had he gone without feeding again? _

"Who's there, damn it!" He was in agony, starving and chained to a wall. He could at least _sound_ formidable.

More rustling coming from the darkness was the only answer he got. His eyes weren't helping, so he closed them, reaching out with his other predator's senses. He could hear quickened breathing and the sound of a rapid heart thrumming in its terror.

"Answer me!" It came out with a roar. Mostly it was the rippling agony along his limbs that caused the volume, though. _Had someone given him vervain?_

Damon heard a footstep, and then another. A small, dirty, tear streaked face came into the light. The shock forced him to stillness. "A kid!" The angry horror of it came out as yet another roar. A starving vampire locked away with a human child. _Someone had a sadistic sense of humor._

"Don't yell, you dummy! You'll make them come back." It was a little girl, she hissed the words at him. Regardless of the sharp scent of her fear, her green eyes were narrowed on him. "When they come, they hurt you. Don't you remember?" Her small voice held the distinct note that said _Don't you know anything? _

She wore filthy encrusted jeans and a shirt that used to be bright pink. Her black hair hung around her face, limp and dirty. There were dark circles around her eyes. She was very small, frail even. Damon didn't know very much about children, avoided them like the plague actually, but he guessed her age at about eight or nine.

Damon's eyes changed to red as a gust of air moved through the small cell, his face lined with hunger as he was bombarded by her scent. _She's a kid, you moron. You don't eat children. _But his whole body hurt with the pain of not feeding and she smelled warm and sweet and it made his mouth water. His fangs extended as he hissed back at her, blindly "Get away from me!"

She backed away, but had never really been within his reach. "What's wrong now?" Her little voice was a strained whisper in the darkness again.

"Your scent." It was all he could get out through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, well, you don't exactly smell like daisies either, Mister." She thought he was complaining about her smell and came back at him. Damon couldn't help himself. He laughed. The red of his eyes faded to blue again.

They were silent for a time as he calmed himself. Into the darkness he asked, imitating her whisper, "How long have we been here?"

"I think for a week." She answered him. "But I can't be sure."

"Why don't I remember?" He couldn't have been out for that long.

"Some guy came a day ago and told you to forget, so you did." He had been compelled. He only knew of two vampires in the area at the time who could do that. Klaus or Elijah. And Elijah wouldn't harm a kid. That left Klaus. _The bastard._

Just to be sure, he asked "What did he look like?"

She stepped into the light, tilted her head to one side and said "You won't remembah this." It was a perfect imitation of Klaus, head tilt and all. She finished by saying, "I don't like him."

Damon smiled at her, rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he's my favorite."

"He wants for you to kill me. He said he'll make you do it if you don't do it on your own soon." She had moved back to the darkened corner, whispering at him. Her words filled him with horror. Klaus could compel him to kill the girl and there wouldn't be anything he could do but what he was told.

"If I could get you free, could you hurt him if he came back?" She asked it and Damon considered his weakened state, the pain shouting insistently for his attention from every inch of his body.

"Hurt his feelings maybe…." It came out as a grumble as he clenched and unclenched a hand.

"I puked on his shoes when I first got here." She offered.

"Nice." He grinned, in spite of himself and the pain. "I might be able to manage that." He pictured the look on the Original's face at her vomiting all over a pair of those Italian loafers he was so fond of. He'd seen Klaus kill both men and women for less. Klaus hadn't hurt the girl though. He wanted Damon to be the one to do that. Damon wondered why.

"What's your name?"

"Mia."

"Why have you not run, Mia?"

"Because I can't run. Why have you not eaten me?" She didn't sound afraid at all, just curious. Her bravado made him smile.

"I didn't set out to be a monster, Mia. I don't hurt little kids. And why can't you run?"

The little girl was silent for a long while and he thought she might've fallen asleep in the darkness. Her high voice slit the silence as she said, "I have osteosarcoma. That's why I can't run."

Damon didn't know much about human diseases, but that one sounded bad from her tone. "I left my medical degree in my other pants. What does that mean exactly?"

She giggled from the darkness. Her small voice reached out again from the darkness after a second of silence. "I have cancer of the long bones. They thought they got it, all of it, a year ago. But it came back. They say it's in my lungs. I noticed that it was getting harder to breath and they found it. I was on my way to start my treatment when I ended up here instead." So she was dying. This child, smart, funny and very alive, was dying. So why the hell was she spending her last days in this hell hole with him? And if she was already dying, why did Klaus have his rotten heart set on Damon killing her? _The whole thing made no damned sense at all._

Pain defined every breath he took in and out right now. But something in him still felt an aching sympathy for this girl. Eyes on the floor, he said only "I'm sorry." And he meant it.

Mia came back immediately with "I'm sorry you're a monster." There was no sarcasm in her words. She sounded equally as sincere.

"Yeah, about that…..why don't I scare you?" He could still smell her fear, but the pungent stench from before had leaked away.

She laughed. "Please. You haven't seen my Mom mad. Now _that's_ a scary face." He joined her laughter until he realized it had faded away to tiny sobs in the corner. When she grew silent, Damon called out to her.

Damon was finding that focusing on the girl helped him to set aside his own pain. "Mia, are you alright?" He heard a snuffle.

"Yeah." The little voice broke on the word and she cleared her throat, tried again, bravely. "Yes. I'm okay. I just miss my Mom. I wish she was here to yell at me." She laughed again, but the sound was painful to hear now.

"I've been thinking, Mia. We need to get you out of here. It would be easier for you to get free than me. So that's what we need to do. You can call for help when you get away from this place." Sweat beaded on his skin as the agony tore through him momentarily, stopping his words, locking his jaw tight. The pain came in billowing ripples across his skin to his bones lighting up his nervous system like a lightning strike. He watched his hands and arms shake with it. Definitely vervain. Given the chance he would tear through this place like the pain tore through him. If this girl didn't make it, it would be all the worse for them. Klaus included, damn him.

"But I told you…"

He stopped her. "I have an idea. But it will require you trust me. I won't hurt you, as long as my mind is my own I won't. But it might not be for long, if Klaus comes back. So we have to move." His voice grew urgent. He was asking her to trust him with her life, and that was a great deal for anyone, much less a small child.

But she stepped out of the shadows anyway, still out of the reach of him and the length of chain at each arm he had. He could easily compel her forward and end her life, end this drama. But he had done that for years without conscience and never taken a child. He wasn't about to start now, when he was in full control of his own actions, his own emotions. He couldn't. He damned well just couldn't. He'd rather walk into the sunlight with no protection at all.

So Damon was about to take a monumental risk, for the sake of himself and this child. His hands shook with the pain and the hunger as he motioned her forward.

"I'm not going to feed on you, but I am going to give you something that will make you stronger, able to run. Okay, Mia?"

"I never asked your name."

"Even before?" He meant when he couldn't remember. He had assumed they had talked then as they did now.

"You were crazy then, snarling at me. They gave you those shots all the time and you yelled a lot. You called me "Ellie" or "Elaine" or something. But you never made any sense. So no, I didn't ask."

Damon raised a brow. Drugged and incoherent he yelled at Elena, evidently. Too bad she hadn't been around to hear that. He was sure at least one of those rants of his would've included a few home truths a certain beautiful girl needed to hear.

"I'm Damon, Mia."

"What could you have on you Damon that could make me stronger that you wouldn't use on yourself when you're hurting so much?" He smiled grimly at her question. Smart girl.

"It won't work for me. It will work for you." He motioned again and she took two cautious steps forward. Damon leaned to his left wrist and extended his fangs. He reached out, it was a tight reach, and bit his own wrist. He held his arm out then, motioning her to move quickly.

"This will seem messy and taste bad to you, but it will make you strong, Mia." He didn't tell her it might heal her completely. He just didn't know. And false hope for someone like her seemed cruel. Right now she just needed enough strength to run. But she wouldn't move. She seemed frozen. Little Mia just stared as the blood flowed out of his wrist onto the floor. He would die and never save her at all. His voice rose in urgency. "Mia, it will close and I won't have any left. Please!"

Mia seemed to hear the tone of authority and urgency. She pressed her mouth to his bleeding wrist and pulled. He was shaking, his head turned away exerting every ounce of control he had to keep from hurting her. He would do all he could to help this little girl get away from the monsters, himself included.

Damon knew he was giving her more than he had to spare when the room started to waver. Through gritted teeth he said only, "Take as much as you can stand, alright?"

Grey. His skin was turning grey. He rotated his right hand, watching it spread across his hand and arm rapidly happening first at the lines where the veins of his hand were and then stretching to the surrounding tissue. He was fading, the last of the blood in his system being drawn away from him. It was fine. He had been given a longer ride than most. He'd wasted most of it, but here, now, was no waste. Hopefully she would live, please God, let her live. _Grey had always been a good color for him anyway._

When Damon's eyes opened again, the pain still waited for him, like an old friend. But it wasn't as overpowering as it had been before. He could easily push it aside now. He looked around and found the girl lying on the floor just outside the reach of his bonds. His first reaction was horror.

He had killed her after all? How was that possible? He watched the life drain right out of him. And then he noticed she was breathing. The chains rattled as he moved and she opened her eyes.

"Oh good! You're awake again." She was smiling at him and he understood damned well nothing.

Damon noticed her appearance had changed. Her black, limp hair was now lustrous and flowing. Her green eyes sparkled at him, the dark circles were gone. She drew in a breath and released it. Damon noted how deeply she did that now. She hadn't been capable of that before. She was better, stronger.

He was stronger too. "What happened, Mia?"

She smiled and raised her wrist. "I shared with you, like you did with me." There was a piece of material wrapped around her wrist like a bandage.

This little girl had fed him to keep him from dying. He choked, coughed and was swallowed whole by the surprise of it. Something of the horror he felt must've been there on his face because she came a little closer, squatted gracefully and wrapped her small arms around her folded knees. She met his eyes earnestly.

"You were dying. I couldn't let that happen. Once I understood what you needed, I just gave it to you while you were asleep. You were too weak to hurt me. I've bled for less." He actually paled at her words, confused. "At the hospital, they want it for everything. I spent months there, had five surgeries in three years. This was nothing to me, Damon. You helped me. So I helped you." She was talking fast, her eyes misting as she spoke. Her little heart was breaking, it seemed. "Please don't be mad."

He leaned forward and met her eyes sternly wearing a half smile. "Just don't do that again, okay? It's not safe. "

She nodded; her little girl heart was appeased when he smiled. "You're better, too, aren't you?"

Damon nodded and stood, testing the new strength from a fresh nine year old. He took one of the chains and pulled hard, hearing the metal of the links groan. He was much stronger now than he had been. He had to wonder at how much she must've bled for him to feel this good. He wasn't back to himself, but he was better. He remembered the vervain they had evidently been giving him.

"Do they come and give me a shot, Mia? Is that what's been happening up until now?" She nodded.

"The last day or two they have come a lot less. I heard one of them say that they gave you too much before." This was why he hadn't seen anyone since he woke and could remember.

"How many come?"

"Two men. They give it to you in your neck. They give you a shot and me a shot. Mine makes me sleepy. Yours hurts I guess, and makes you crazy."

A plan was forming. They were both stronger now. When they came again, he and Mia would be ready.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Damon heard the cell door rattle and knew it was now or never. He whispered a quiet "Now, little girl." Into the silence. He didn't see her again. It was too dark, but he knew she was there, waiting.

The two came into the dank cell and left the door cracked behind them. They were carrying a lantern and a tray with two capped needles. Mia was right. The needles looked identical, except that one had slightly more in it than the other. They set it on the floor in front of him. One of them set his cell phone next to the tray. Neither of them spoke. He caught their scent. Damned werewolves. Damon stayed where he was, sitting limply on the floor, looking as weak and worn as he had before. He watched them quietly as they moved around the room. They were preparing carefully for giving him the injection. Evidently he fought them. Good. They were tense in their preparations.

One was tall, with dark, shorn hair, dark eyes and dark skin, like coffee. He was broad shouldered and massive. He eyed Damon warily. Damon was pretty sure on a good day he could make mincemeat of the guy, werewolf or not. Even with Mia's blood to help, today still wasn't a good day, though. The other was shorter with blonde hair. It hung to his shoulders in dirty knots like he had been running his hands through it repeatedly.

A small voice split their silence, "Mister, I have to pee." Both of the big scary werewolves nearly jumped out of their skin. She was standing behind them looking like the same worn and weak child she had before. She swayed where she stood a little for good measure. Damon was convinced the kid was brilliant.

"Use the bucket." The large dark man answered her, clearly flustered. The surest way to unsettle a man was to have to deal with a little girl and toileting. Damon had to suppress a grin.

"But it's full." Her voice was a small, needy whine.

The large man went and got her bucket, which she had filled with most of the water they gave her and went to empty it busily. The smaller man watched, waiting and cursing at her for being a needy brat. Mia cried, meeting the man eye to eye with tears coursing down her face. She took a step toward him and stumbled, knocking the entire tray on the floor over and cried all the harder when he cursed her, struck her hard across the face.

Damon saw red. The blonde was just close enough. He brought one leg up, knocking the bastard into the wall. That had not been in the plan.

Mia grabbed the needle with the larger dose and shoved the plunger down just enough to make one appear to be the other while the man recovered, then quickly set up the tray again crying and apologizing. She had switched the needles. The phone was gone.

Blondie struck Damon across the face as the large man returned with Mia's bucket.

There was some cursing at one another and then they approached Damon. He yanked hard and the weakened links on both sides gave way. Not taking any chances, he launched at the smaller one. He was sure he couldn't win against the largest, and this was really just a distraction.

They caught him easily, stopped his rebellion with very little effort in his weakened stated. They drove him back to the wall and shoved the needle into his neck and he braced for the pain. He buckled, but it wasn't real. They had given him her morphine by mistake and it had no effect on him at all. When they turned to Mia in the darkness, she was gone. The door was slightly more ajar. They left him in broken chains there on the floor as they locked the door again. He heard yelling, running, but he didn't see Mia again. He could only hope she was free, and that she wouldn't forget the two strings of numbers he had made her memorize.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxdxxxxxxxxxx

Damon woke to a sweet and now familiar scent. A small voice at his left ear said "Oh, Damon. What have you got yourself into now?"

"It's a party, Elena. Everyone's invited, even spiteful women." He hadn't moved. His nose was against the floor and he didn't have the strength to do a damned thing about it. But he still had his mouth, and he would use it.

Elena reached down and lifted him up, wrapping her arms around his shoulders until they are sitting nearly nose to nose. "You will find that sarcasm is more effective if you aren't face down in the dirt." She told him, gently wiping dirt from his cheek and the end of his nose. Her brown eyes looked worried. Damon liked that very much, so he grinned at her.

She helped him up and smashed the manacles at his wrists with one hand. He would never get used to her being able to do that. His blood had accomplished that too. It made him grin with quiet pride.

"I got a call from a little girl who said you needed help. She gave me this address and said you would be hungry. I stashed some blood bags in the tree line a mile from here." She wrapped an arm around his chest and helped him stand. It was going to take a while longer to get all of the vervain out of his system. The two of them were nose to nose. "A little girl? Really? How did you get tangled up with a child, Damon?"

He swayed a little and forced a grin. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Elena. You know children and I don't mix. Too much competition for attention…."

She rolled her eyes, muttering. "Naturally."

Damon's smile faded as he could see that she believed every word.

As they made their way across the field behind the house, with him partially draped across Elena's shoulders, police and ambulances were lined up outside. The last thing he needed was to be giving a vampire anatomy lesson to an EMT, so they were moving away quietly. He saw a small girl in the distance, near an ambulance. It was Mia. She separated from the others and headed in their direction.

Damon stumbled a little into Elena as the girl collided with him, wrapping him in a hug. He stood there, blinking and still mostly supported by Elena, who tightened her hold around his chest when the girl struck. His arms came around the little girl automatically and he turned to meet startled, but warm brown eyes watching him closely.

Holding to his shirt front with both hands, the little girl said "You're going to be okay now?"

Damon turned away from Elena, trying to ignore the wonder in her eyes. "Yes, Mia. I'll be fine. Thank you for calling my friend." The little girl moved a little closer, hugged him a little harder as she turned and opened her eyes, meeting Elena's gaze for the first time. "He saved us." She told Elena with a secret smile.

Damon returned her hug weakly as he put a finger over his lips, addressing the girl. "Shhhh… You did the hard part, Mia. Just don't tell anyone about me. Even your Mom. Okay?"

Mia nodded smiling and turned to see her mother moving in their direction. "That's her. I better go." She gave him one last quick hug for good measure before she turned and ran to meet her mom.

Elena studied his profile. He could feel her eyes moving over him and couldn't bring himself to meet them. At the very least she had caught him in a lie. What he didn't see, because he was afraid to look, was the wonder shining in her eyes.

Damon tipped his head back as a scent on the air distracted him. "Is it just me, or do you smell werewolf?"

Elena nodded. "I noticed that. Her mom."

Weakly he started to laugh. It made his whole body hurt, but the laughter tore out of him like a caged bird, hungry for freedom.

"What did I miss?" Elena asked conversationally. They had turned, and she was steering him toward a tree line.

Damon shook his head a little, still chuckling. "She wasn't afraid of me. She said her Mom's angry face was much worse than my scary one. With her mother being a werewolf, I would guess so." Elena laughed with him at how everything was a matter of perspective.

"That little girl has been all over television for the last week while the police have looked for her. Her mother is a state governor." Elena dropped that little tidbit like it was nothing and Damon was stopped in his tracks.

"Klaus tried to force me to kill her. If I had, someone that powerful would've slammed down hard on everything and everyone I know in retaliation. Rotten limey bastard." Damon's mind was still processing the horror of possibilities that might've resulted if he had done what his instincts told him and saved himself.

Elena answered his worried expression with a broad smile. "Well, I think it might've backfired. What do you want to bet Mom will have Klaus' name now for what he did to that girl? "

The two of them laughed together at those possibilities as Elena tried to pretend she wasn't actually carrying him toward the trees. Both of them got to be heroes today.

Damon felt sure she would make a formidable woman one day. Perhaps she would make a formidable werewolf, and an enemy. He wasn't sure. He was sure that some small part of him lived in that little girl now, along with his blood, and would continue on for some time. He found some satisfaction in that.


End file.
